Tie-wires for concrete forms



Jan. l2, 1960 J. C. SHOEMAKER TIE-WIRES FOR CONCRETE AFORMS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 1s, 1958 Jan. 12, 1960 J. c. SHOEMAKER 2,920,371

TIE-WIRES FOR CONCRETE 4FORMS 7 wrm-1 United States Patent iA A aszori Patented Jan. 12, 1960 l 2,920,371 TIE-WIRES FOR CONCRETE FORMS James C. Shoemaker, Loves Park, Ill., assignor to Simplex Forms Systems, Inc., Rockford, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application January 13, 1958, Serial No. 708,467 2 Claims. (Cl. 25-131) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 533,329, liled September 9, v1955, now Patent No. 2,898,659.

This invention relates to improvements in tie-wires for use with concrete forms.

In the copending application above referred to, and an earlier copending application Serial'No. 376,423 (now Patent No, 2,825,956, issued March ll, 1958), I disclosed a concrete form structure in which there are horizontally extending metal stripsv secured to the outer side of the abutting vertical form sections, the end portions of these strips of abutting sections being approximately in alignment and adapted to be interconnected so as to interconnect the sections, one of the end portions having a bayonet slot provided therein adapted to receive the protruding end portion of a tie-wire disposed atl right angles to and protruding between the abutting ends of the form sections, so that when an elongated lever pivoted at one end on the other of the end portions and having a slot provided in its other end extending from one longitudinal edge is swung downwardly to receive the outer end of the tie-wire in the open end slot the forms are fastened together, and the wire is at the same time tightened in the bayonet slot by tight abutment of one shoulder on the wire with the lever and tight abutment of another shoulder on the wire with the strip. In accordance with the present invention I provide improved tie-wires at lower cost, the shoulders intermediate the ends and at the ends being obtained by flattening round wire, throughout an appreciable length, iirst in one plane in the vicinity of where the shoulders are desired and then again tlattening a shorter length of the wire in a plane at right angles intermediate the ends of each of the rst mentioned flattened portions to provide pairs of accurately spaced and fairly sharply defined shoulders at each of the locations, the wire stock used being cut to the lengths desired prior to the t-wo flattening or squeezing operations described. The resulting tie-wires are cheaper and better than those made in the old way by upsetting and are handier to use because the flattened portions enable the locking levers to hold the wires against turning so that when the forms are to be stripped, the protruding end portions of the wires can be broken off easily with a slight twist using a special wrench provided for this purpose, and then it is much easier 'to swing up the locking levers to disconnect them from the tie-wires in the removal of the form sections and 'time and effort vare saved. It is a simple matterwith this method to make the same tie-wires useable for diferent thicknesses of foundations by providing the flattened portionsin the appropriate spaced relationship.`

Another object is to further improve the tie-wires by flattening the round wire in the first operation the full length thereof inv one plane, the other flattening in the plane at right angles being at the same locations as in the other form, the full length Vflattening 'affording the advantage that the 'tie-wires anchor themselves better in the concrete and,fdue to the flats on opposite sides the full length thereof, are positively held against turning and are therefore not apt to be wrenched loose when the protruding end portions of the wires are broken olf after the forms have been stripped from the foundation, there being a need for this precaution because of the twisting action usually applied to the snapping off of these end portions.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. l is a perspective View of a concrete form structure in which tie-wires made in accordance with my invention are illustrated;

Figs. 2 and 3 are sections on the line 2 2 of Fig. l, showing my improved tie-wires to better advantage, and indicating how the same tie-wires may be used for difierent thicknesses of foundations;

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of one end portion of a tie-wire shown substantially full size to give a better idea of how the shoulders are formed by the two-way squeezing of the wire at each of the four points in longitudinally spaced relation;

Fig. 5 is a view like Fig. 2 but illustrating another form o-ftie-wire having the body thereof flattened its full length in the rst flattening operation;

Fig. 6 is an isolated view of the tie-wire of Fig. 5 as viewed from above, and

Fig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Similar reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout the views.

Referring to the drawings, and first mainly to Fig. l, the reference numerals 3 and 9 designate the inner and outer walls, respectively, of a concrete form structure made in accordance with my invention. Each of these walls is made up of a number of fairly small and light rectangular sections 10. Each section may, for example, be about two feet wide and aboutl eight feet long, the length being equivalent to the depth of thebasement whose walls are to be made from poured' concrete. The sections l0 are disposed in edge to edge abutting relation and secured together 4by spacer pins or tie-wires 1'1` and locking bars or levers 12, with the inner and outer walls 8 and 9 held in uniformly spaced relation and the sections 10 in each of these walls secured together firmly in coplanar relationship and tight abutment. Each* section lil is preferably of wooden construction for lightness and cheapness and preferably comprises a wall forming plywood Vpanel of suitable thickness having horizontally extending flat metal strips 13 secured to the outer side thereof, usually at three levels, namely, at the top, middle and bottom portions of the form sections, although more strips may be employed in the case of form sections for a deeper basement. Screws 14 are used in the fastening of the strips -and are preferably entered in sleeve nuts, the heads of which come flush with the inner side of the panels. ln the construction of each of the walls 8 and 9 the panels lt) are disposed in edge to edge abutment, excepting at `the corners of the structure, where certain variations in this arrangement become necessary. The tiewires l1, which serve as spacer pins between walls 8 and 9, extend through notches l5 provided-in one end of each panel and have near each end inner and outer shoulders 16 and ll7 defined at opposite ends of a vertically ilattened portion 13 that is adapted to be entered freely in a bayonet slot 19 in the projecting end portion 20 of a strip 13, whereby loosely to space a form section 10 of the inner wall 8 a predetermined distance from a form section 10 of the outer wall 9 preliminary to the final lookup and rigid fastening together of sections in walls 8 and 9 by means'of the locking bars or levers 12. The spacer pins or tie-wires 11 are positively connected to the form sections in the slots 19 well enough to serve'as coupling pins to be connected to by levers 12 for positively pulling neighboring form sections in walls 8 and 9 into tight abutment. The spacer pins or tie-wires 11, which are preferably of semi-hard wire, are first attened in a horizontal plane throughout a greater length of the wire than is necessary for the spacing of shoulders 16 and 17, as best appears in Fig. 4, after which the wire is subjected to a second squeeze or attening throughout a shorter length at the same location in a vertical plane to deiine the shoulders 16 and 17 at opposite ends of the vertically flattened portion 18. Four such formations are provided on each tie-wire 11, two in spaced relation at each end, as clearly appears in Figs. 2 and 3, the two inner pairs of shoulders 16 and 17 being used when forms are set up for the pouring of a thinner wall, as shown in Fig. 3, and the two outer pairs of shoulders 16 and 17 being used when forms are set up for a wall of greater thickness, as in Fig. 2. A third arrangement provides for a wall of intermediate thickness. In that case only one of the iiattened portions used in Fig. 3 is used;

the other being one of those used in Fig. 2. After the concrete has set and the forms are to be stripped from the wall, a wrench W (Fig. 2) can be applied to the flats a on the end portions of the tie-wires 11 left protruding and these extremities can be twisted off atmshoulders 17, thereby loosening the levers 12 so that they can be disconnected easily from the tie-wires. The tie-wires are held by the levers against turning so that the twisting oif described is possible.

When the bars or levers 12 are applied to the spacer pins or tie-wires 11 serving in their dual capacity both as spacer pins and as coupling pins, as will next be described, the inner and outer walls S and 9 are tied together in rigidly spaced relationship, and at the same time the neighboring form sections 10 in each of said walls are tied together in coplanar relationship and tight abutment. The locking bars or levers 12, as disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 376,423, are permanently pivotally secured near one end of each form section 111 on the reduced smooth cylindrical shank portions provided behind the heads of bolts 21, each of these bolts being entered through a vertical slot 22 in one of the locking bars 12 and through a registering hole in strips 13 and into a sleeve nut, similarly as screws 14. Thus, the locking bars 12 may be swung about the bolts 21 as pivots and also may be adjusted bodily up or down in planes parallel to the outer faces of the form sections at right angles to the ends of the tie-wires 11, each of the bars being arranged to engage the flattened portions 18 of these wires in a slot 23 provided in the free ends of the locking bars. This accomplishes a double tieup or lookup action, namely, the tying together in rigidly spaced relation of the inner and outer walls 8 and 9 and at the same time the tying together in coplanar relationship and tight abutment of the neighboring form sections of these inner and outer walls. As indicated at 24, the lower edge portion of each locking bar 12 is bevelled on opposite sides of the slot 23 on the outer side, to facilitate the interlocking engagement of the ends of the tiewires 11 in the slots 23 so that the form sections 10 may be wedged into their final assembled positions as the bars 12 are forced downwardly into tying position. The elongation vertically of the slots 22 has a two-fold advantage, namely, it enables shifting the bars 12 bodily upwardly or downwardly, as may be necessary to compensate for run-out of the strips 13 from coplanar disposition of the adojining ends that are to be coupled together on neighboring form sections, and it also enables easier coupling where the ends of the strips 13 to be coupled together do not happen to be in abutment or close to abutment, in which case the sliding of the bar 12 downwardly in relation to the bolt 21 vives a siightly longer radius than is usually needed to permit engagement of the projecting end of the tie-wire 11 in the slot 23, after which it is a simple matter to jog the bar 12 upwardly to 1ocate the bolt 21 nearer the middle of the slot 22, thereby drawing together the ends of the neighboring form sections by cam action much more tightly than would otherwise be possible. To obtain greater rigidity of the forni structure as a whole and at the same time secure more accurate alignment of the ends of the strips 13 and panels 11i and accordingly improve the smoothness of the foundation at the joints between abutting form sections, another bolt 21 is provided in spaced relation to the bolt 21, nearer the end of the strip 13 and at a slightly lower elevation than the bolt 21, as clearly appears in Fig. l, the bolt 21' being secured to the panel 10 and strip 13 by means of a sleeve nut in the same way as the bolt 21, and an additional slot 25 intermediate the ends of the bar 12 opening from the same longitudinal edge as the slot 23, and this additional slot receives the head end of the bolt 21', as shown in the upper level in Fig. 1, when the bar 12 is swung down to locking position. That side of the slot 25 nearest the bolt 21 is cut away, as indicated at 26, so that the slot is actually V-shaped and is wide enough at the lower end to receive the reduced shank portion on the head end of the bolt 21', regardless of which end of the slot 22 is used in the pivoting of the bar 12 with respect to bolt 21. inasmuch as the bar 12 is held by bolt 21 against even such slight deection with respect to the strip 13 as might otherwise be permitted if only the bolt 21 was relied upon, it follows that when the bar 12 is moved home to locking position there is bound to be more accurate alignment of the ends of the strips 13 and accordingly also of the panels 10, and the connection between the strips is bound to be far more rigid and the rigidity of the form structure as a whole is increased, and, due to the fact that the form sections are maintained in more accurate alignment, the resulting foundation is smoother at the joints between the abutting form sections than would otherwise be true. However, to still further insure closer accuracy of alignment of the abutting form sections I may also provide, as shown in Fig. 1, lineup rails or stringers 27 of channel shaped cross-section to tit down over the upper edge portions of the panels 10 and spanning the joints 28 between the abutting sections. These lineup rails are suiciently above the level to which the concrete is usually poured in the form structure so that there will be nothing to interfere with easy removal of these rails when the forms are to be stripped from the foundation. The lower edge portions 29 in these rails are ared outwardly to facilitate entering the upper edge portions of the panels 10 therein. The lineup rails will, of course, be used on both the inner and outer walls S and 9 of the form structure although one is shown in Fig. 1 applied only to the outer wall 9.

Referring next to Figs. 5 to 7, the tie-wires 11 are obviously the same as the tie-wires 11 shown in Figs. 2 to 4 except that in the first flattening operation in a horizontal plane the wire, originally of circular section, from which the body of tie-wire is formed, is flattened in the horizontal plane its full length, so that there are parallel fiat faces 30 on the top and bottom of the pin the full length thereof excepting only at the four places 31, 32, 33 and 34, where the wire is subjected to a second squeeze or flattening in a vertical plane to define the shoulders 16 and 17 at opposite ends of each of these vertically attened portions to serve the same purpose as in the tiewires 11 shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Two of these Vertical attenings, at 32 and 33 are used when forms are set up for the pouring of a thinner wall, as in Fig. 3, and the two other flattened portions 31 and 34 are used when forms are set up for a wall of greater thickness, as in Fig. 2. Extra deep grooves or crirnps are formed parallel to the shoulders 17 at one end of the flattened portions .3l-34, as indicated at 35, with a view to deiining a thinner and hence weaker section where rst the protruding tip portion of the tie-wire may be most easily snapped olf. With this form of tie-wire a wrench W, the same as indicated in Fig. 2, can be applied to the flats 36 on the extremities of the tie-Wires 11 to twist the same off at the shoulders 17 to loosen the levers 12 so that they can be disconnected more easily from the tie-Wires after the concrete has set and the forms are ready to be stripped from the Wall. The tie-Wires 11' are held by the levers against turning so that this twisting olf operiation is made easy. Of course, after the forms have been stripped from the Wall the Wrench can be applied to the flattened portions 31 and 34 to snap off the rest of the protruding end portions of the tie-wires. The vertically flattened extremities 36 are defined between the adjoining lengths defining the separate tie-wires, Where the individual wires are sheared off from a continuous length of wire after the completion of the second attening operation.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. 'Ihe appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modiications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a tie-Wire for use in holding inner and outer form Walls of a concrete form structure in spaced relation, said tie-Wire comprising a piece of wire of the overall length required and having at each end an elongated portion attened from opposite sides to approximately the same extent in one plane for widening beyond the thickness dimension of the wire, and having a portion of the length of each of these flattened portions intermediate vthe ends of the latter fiattened in a plane transversely to the irst flattening so as to define shoulders for abutment with form locking means at opposite ends of the last mentioned attened portions.

2. As an article of manufacture, a tie-wire for use in holding inner and outer form wall-s of a concrete form structure in spaced relation, said tie-wire comprising a piece of substantially round Wire of the overall length required attened horizontally to a substantially rectangular section its full length for Widening beyond the thickness dimension of the Wire and having at each end a portion attened in a vertical plane transversely to the first mentioned iiattening so as to define shoulders for abutment with form locking means at opposite ends of the last mentioned attened portion.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,990,234 Kemper Feb. 5, 1935 2,164,592 Pilj July 4, 1939 2,218,099 Schenk Oct. 15, 1940 2,245,559 Kinninger June 17, 1941 2,412,307 Tatsch Dec. 10, 1946 2,580,330 Symons Dec. 25, 1951 2,613,424 Kenney Oct. 14, 1952 2,657,449 Hillberg Nov. 3, 1953 2,794,234 White June 4, 1957 

